A disturbing video shows the moment a man suddenly picks up an Iranian boy and slams him to the floor in the arrivals hall of a Moscow airport.
The boy, two years old, suffered serious skull fractures and spinal injuries. He is in coma and fighting for his life.
Reports say the child had arrived in Russia after he and his mother fled the bombing in Iran.
The video shows the young boy minding his business, clutching his trolley bag handle at the airport. A man, his black glasses perched on his forehead and hands in his pockets, is standing close behind. He, dressed in a white T-shirt and shorts, looks around to check if anyone is watching, moves in closer and then scoops up the child and hurls him to the floor, shows the video, posted on X by Iran Embassy in India.
“A traveler at the Moscow airport confronted an Iranian child, whose family left due to the Israeli aggression and brutally assaulted him. The child is in a coma and has serious injuries,” said the Iranian Embassy.
A man came running to pick up the seriously wounded boy, the video shows. The attack happened as the boy’s pregnant mother was collecting his pushchair after their flight’s arrival at Sheremetyevo airport.
The attacker – identified as Vladimir Vitkov, 31, from Belarus – is seen on security footage looking closely at the boy who is next to his suitcase.
Police are examining if there was a racist or other motivation for the act against the child.
The man has been taken into custody after the incident, amid suspicions he was under the influence of drugs.
